SA fishers to be offered licence buybacks

The South Australian Government is consulting with the fishing industry over possible license buybacks to offset the effect of the new marine parks.

A draft plan to compensate fishers who voluntarily surrender their licences has been released by the Primary Industries and Resources department (PIRSA).

Restrictions on trawlers in the marine park zones began in March, with other fishing restrictions in the 19 designated parks to come into effect in October 2014.

PIRSA's executive director of aquaculture Mehdi Doroudi says abalone, rock lobster and marine scalefish industries are among those that will be affected.

"At the end of this process we need to finalise some criteria for each of those sectors that are named, that what would be the most effective way to remove the displaced catchment effort to offset this impact," he said.

"Obviously it should be accepted by Government because it's public money and at the end should be according to the market a fair and reasonable price.

"If it's accepted, they will get the value of their licence or their entitlement, the same as if they wanted to sell it or buy it in the open market."

Consultation is expected to be completed at the end of this month.

The chairman of Wildcatch Fisheries SA, Jonas Woolford, says he hopes fishers will be offered a fair amount to surrender their licences.

It's likely to go out to tender, so the licence holders will put in a value to the Government and then the Government will determine whether it meets a certain criteria or not and it will progress from there," he said.